‘Forced removal of Al-Assad to create potentially unendurable chaos’

Moscow, Nov 10 (IANS) Russia on Tuesday asserted that the potential removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by force will create a new “black hole” in the Middle East that may simply not be survivable.

“If the next operation on the violent change of power in the Middle Eastern country is carried out, it will be disastrous not only for Syria, but will also become the most dangerous element in the destructive chain of events occurring in the region,” Press TV cited Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency quoting foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying.

“The region may simply not endure one more black hole,” she said.

In the event of such political development, the region might not just turn into a set of “lurid” states, but “explode” simultaneously as a whole, the official said.

Since March 2011, Syria has been beset by foreign-backed militancy, which has reportedly so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.

Diplomatic efforts have been going on to bring about a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Syria.

On October 30, diplomats and representatives from various countries, including Iran, as well as the United Nations and the European Union got together in the Austrian capital of Vienna for a meeting on the issue.

At the end of the talks, the participants agreed on respecting Syria’s national unity and sovereignty as well as eradicating the terrorist groups operating in the Arab country.

Certain Western and non-Western countries have insisted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not be part of any future government in Syria.